A year ago, the West Linn baseball team battled to second place in the Three Rivers League and then advanced all the way to the Class 6A state quarterfinals.

But as great as all that was, it won't be nearly good enough for the Lions in 2017.

West Linn comes back strong with four all-leaguers this year, and while the Lions must replace two second-team all-Three Rivers League pitchers — including 2016 TRL Utility Player of the Year Will Matthiessen — they believe they have enough talent to win their league and make a deep run in the playoffs.

There's no doubt about it — there's a rivalry between West Linn and Clackamas.

The Lions held the upper hand in football, beating the Cavaliers 41-20 in the Class 6A state semifinals.

After splitting two non-league contests, the Clackamas boys basketball team knocked off West Linn 78-71 in the semifinals of this year's state tournament.

The two schools faced off again on Thursday — albeit in a somewhat more modest setting — when the Lions hosted the Cavaliers in a non-league baseball game at West Linn High School. In the end, the Cavaliers broke open a scoreless tie with four runs in their final three at-bats to win 4-0.

You've heard the saying "You only get one chance to make a first impression," right?

The West Linn baseball team made sure not to waste that chance on Friday.

The Lions, playing at Lakeridge High School in Three Rivers League action, dropped six runs on the Pacers in the top of the first inning, added two more in the top of the second and used that early deluge to run away from Lakeridge 11-1.

It took two days, some late-inning drama and definitely, some anxious moments.

But when it finally all ended, it was the West Linn baseball team that emerged victorious.

The Lions, in a game that started April 19, was suspended due to rain and then finished on April 20, broke a long-standing 1-1 tie with three runs in the top of the seventh inning, and then held off a Tigard rally in the bottom of the frame to win 4-2 in a Three Rivers League contest played at Tigard High School.

The Lions completed a showdown series sweep and strengthened their grip on first place in the Three Rivers League standings by rallying for a 3-2 win over Tualatin in a back-and-forth battle played Friday at Tualatin High School.

The calendar tells us that the first round of the state baseball playoffs don't arrive for almost two weeks.

But the calendar lies.

The West Linn and Lake Oswego baseball teams hooked up in a Three Rivers League classic on Tuesday afternoon that had "playoff" written all over it.

The day's two starting pitchers combined for almost 16 scoreless innings, saw their defenses make play after play to keep the game deadlocked at 0-0 and didn't relent until West Linn senior first baseman Jake Porter smashed a two-out solo home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat the Lakers 1-0 at West Linn High School.

For the second time in three games, a West Linn baseball player walked to the plate with a chance to beat Lake Oswego in extra innings.

And for the second time in as many tries, the Lions delivered.

Knotted 2-2 with No. 28 Lake Oswego in the bottom of the 10th inning on Friday night, top-ranked West Linn sent Jonathon Kelly to the plate. With the bases loaded and two outs, the sophomore lined a single to right field that plated Tim Tawa, won the game 3-2 and caused the West Linn dugout to stampede the field at West Linn High School once again.

The West Linn baseball team got a minor scare in its Monday playoff opener.

On Wednesday, the Lions played well enough to score the rest of the state.

Hosting No. 16 McNary in the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs, top-ranked West Linn got a shutdown pitching performance from starter Tim Tawa, banged out 12 hits (seven for extra bases) and dusted the Celtics 10-1 at West Linn High School.

The Lions, hosting McNary in the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs, got a three-hit pitching performance over six innings from Tim Tawa, banged out seven extra-base hits and rolled to a 10-1 victory over the Celtics at West Linn High School.

The fourth-ranked Beavers, playing at top-seeded West Linn in Tuesday's Class 6A state semifinals, pushed across one run in the top of the third inning while pitcher Trace Hokkanen kept throwing zeroes at the Lions.

But West Linn turned the tide in the bottom of the fifth inning, putting together three hits and one error to score three runs and beat Beaverton 3-1 at West Linn High School.

The top-ranked Lions, hosting No. 4 Beaverton in the Class 6A state semifinals, trailed 1-0 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, but broke through for three runs there and used that outburst to beat the Beavers 3-1 and secure a berth in Saturday's state championship.

It almost figures that West Linn and Clackamas would battle one more time in the 2016-17 school year, this time with the two schools' baseball teams due to meet up in the Class 6A state championship game. That matchup is set for 5 p.m. Saturday at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer.